Happy Trails

Stocks are heading higher, portfolio managers say

HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN, give or take a few frightful stock-market sessions. After three years of losses, the major indexes are flying high, propelled by signs of a stronger economy, fatter corporate profits and a return of the animal spirits in certain familiar quarters. Year-to-date, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen 14.8%, the Standard & Poor's 500 index, 17%. And the Nasdaq Composite -- so hot, it's cool -- has shot up 39.6%, as investors rush to bet on a brighter future.